Fingernail stencil



Nov. 1s, 1941. N, VASIL 2,262,977

FINGERNAIL STENCIL Filed Aug. 12, 1940 #1mm-IK ATTORNEYS Patented Nov.1s, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FINGERNAIL STENCIL Nick Vasl,Pittsburgh, Pa.. Application August 12, 1940, SerialNo. 352,242

4 Claims.

This invention relates to toilet articles, and more in particular tofinger-nail stencils.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an adjustablefinger-nail stencil whereby paint or colored lacquer may be applied tofingernails without touching the nail-folds or the fleshy parts of thefingers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a finger-tip clampingdevice having two or more finger-nail stencils.

yStill another object of this invention is the provision of a clampingdevice having removable, resilient, finger-nail stencils of varioussizes and constructed to t snugly over the portion of the nails to whichit is intended to apply coloring.

Additional features and advantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing description considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawing forming part of this application.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a simple form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a top view thereof.

Fig'. 4 is a front elevation of a finger-nail clamp having removablelinger-nail stencils,

Fig. 5 shows a side elevation, and

Fig. 6 a top view of Fig. 4.

Fig. '7 is a pcrspective view of a removable stencil used with thedevice shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a more elaborate embodiment of thisinvention, and

Fig. 9 is a side elevation, partly in section, of this modification.

Reference being had to the drawing, the simpler form of my inventioncomprises two suitably shaped, identical, clamp-halves I, madepreferably of thin sheet metal and connected hingedly together vby asplit tubular spring 2 having spaced arcuate slots 3 suitably shaped toeach receive the concavo-convex handle 4 of a clamp-half.

The spoon shaped body portion 5 is substantially straightlongitudinally, but is arcuate transversely, and at the center isprovided with a flexible depending stencil-shield 6 which is conwhitishmoon of the finger-nail, which moon is preferably left in its naturalcolor.

The handles are preferably provided with outy wardly pressed beads IIwhich serve to hold the former in proper position within the clampingspring 2. 4

In the modified construction shown in Figs. 4 to 6, the substantiallyidentical clamp-halves I2 are hingedly connected together by apin-connection I3 and acted upon by a wire spring I4, the tendency ofwhich is to force the forward ends of the clamp-halvesagainst eachother.

nected to the main body at its forward end by is cut out the stencilopening 9, the size and shape of which correspond to that of thefinger-nails for which it is intended. As shown, the forward end I0 ofthe stencil opening is preferably curved The latter are bifurcated atthe front to form two equal tnes I5, the ends of which are preferablyreduced in width to produce the stopshoulders I6 and the prongs I'Iwhich serve to hold and definitely locate the removable stencilshieldsI8.

Each stencil-shield I8 is made of very thin an exible material, such asstainless steel and, as shown in Fig. '7, has a stencil-opening I9 forthe finger-nails and a narrow, resilient, shankportion 20,preferablyslotted centrally as at 2|, to increase its flexibility. Atthe top of thisshank is the cross-member 22 the sides of which aresuitably bent to form the sleeves 23, adapted to snugly receive theprongs I1 on the clamp-halves.

This flexible shield is given an initial transverse curvature somewhatmore pronounced than mally inclined longitudinally and inwardly of theclamp, so that it will resiliently mold itself about an insertedfinger-nail, thus favoring a sharply defined painting job.

The main advantage of this modification is that the same clamp may beused to paint all sizes of finger-nails, by simply aflixing suitablestencilshields onto the clamp. Thus, a purchaser will have to buy onlyone clampand as, many stencilshields as needed to satisfy personalrequirements.

A The more complete device shown in Figs. 8 and 9`has been designedmainly for professional use and holds'sufllcient stencils to satisfypractically all normal sizes andl types of linger-nails. Because of itsuniversal adaptability, the device may be standardized for massproduction and thus` to agree more or less with the curvature of thevided at its center with a spherical hub 21. Distributed about itscircumference, the wen has suitably shaped and sized apertures 28disposedin two groups, o ne above and one below the partition 2B.

Rockably supported lon both sides of the' spherical hub are thesupporting spiders 29 having spaced radial arms 30, a peripheral rim 3land a central disc 32 between which are cut out openings 33 of varioussizes to accommodate correspondingly dimensioned stencil-shields. 34 inwhich are stamped out the stencil-openings 35.

These stencil-shields are also arched transversely and suitably inclinedinwardly. They are made of any suitable thin and exible material andhave slotted shanks 36, secured to the arched portions 31 of thev rim 3lby rivets 38,

for instance.

The spiders' 29 are rockably secured on theY spherical `hub 21 by meansof dished springwashers 39 held by screws 40 driven into a metal core 4|molded in the hub. l

As will be noted from Fig. 8, because of the varying length of thestencil-shields, the hub 21 is, preferably disposed eccentrically in thehousing 2l, for the purpose of reducing the outside diameter and weightof the device.. Due to this eccentric mounting, the' spiders will notrotate horiitontallyl and the stencil-shields will remain in alignmentwith their corresponding apertures The specially stenciled shield 3lxmay be used, if desired, to apply on top of painted finger-nailsdlierent colored ornamental designs, such as the heart or the four leafclover shown.

When using either one of the devices shown, a person inserts a nger Funder -the proper device may` be made smaller in diameter, by placingonly -three stencil-shields on each side of the partition 26, or else, awhole set of stencilshields at one side of this partition may be omittedand the height of the device practically halved, in a manner that willbe readily conceived by mechanically minded persons.

It will be understood, of course, that the various arrangements I haveherein shown and described are merely suggestive of many that might beadopted in carrying out my invention, and I do not wish to be limited tothe constructions shown otherwise than as specified in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A nger nail stencil including a clamping element having astencil-shield receiving aperture a stencil-shield positioned coaxiallyin said aperture. and a narrow strip to connect one side of the shieldto said clamping element.

2. A nger nail stencil including a clamping element having a centralaperture; a stencilshield positioned coaxially within vsaid aperture' inspaced parallel relation therewith, and= a narrow strip of resilientmaterial to., connect one f side of the shield to said clamping element.

stencil-shield and proceeds with the painting.

Because of its universal resiliency, the shield will t closely over theEnger-nail. and effectively cover the nail-folds and surrounding skin.

When a device of the type illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 is made forindividual use. the stencilshields are selected and` assembled to suitthe buyers' finger-nails, and the number of stencils in spaced relationtherewith, and a resilient may be reduced to ve or six. In this' case,the 45 narrow strip of material positioned centrally onone side of saidshield to connect same to the clamping element, the free end of saidstencilshield being deflected inwardly toI resiliently bear against aninserted finger-nail.

NICK WisinY

